The University of Maryland Eastern Shore American Association of Pharmaceuticals Scientists (AAPS) Student Chapter
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore AAPS Student chapter was established in 2017 and is comprised of Ph.D. Pharmaceutical Science graduate students and Postdocs. The primary goal of the chapter is to enhance scientific knowledge through seminars/workshops and professional development through networking opportunities. AAPS has provided us with such opportunities and the ability to explore the field of pharmaceutical science even further. AAPS’s student chapter resource has a lot to offer, from inviting a guest speaker, organizing industrial visits to connecting with fellow student chapters. Annually, our student chapter conducts “Outreach Month” in April. The goal of our outreach month is to spread words about our student chapter. We visit and interact with local high schools, community colleges, and universities students. We plan several activities and each member plays a significant role. Every year our students make visits to Salisbury University and Wicomico Community college and have an interactive session with presentations and communicating interested students and faculties. The events were continued as virtual sessions in the year 2020 due to the pandemic.
To support student networking, mentorship, and career development opportunities, we made an industrial tour to Cadista Pharmaceutical lnc in 2018. Our students had an opportunity to gain first-hand experience of industrial operation and to communicate with the employees. To further explore the industrial field, we recently invited 3 guest speakers from the industry to share their research and career journey. We hosted a virtual interactive session where students were able to ask career-related queries. Our panel had speakers from various fields of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Arthur Ciociola, VP and Global Head regulatory affairs, Ophthalmology, Novartis, and Dr. Palem Asso. Director of drug safety quality management, Exelixis were part of our panel. The chapter plans to continue such events in the future.
Our monthly meetings comprise of planning and discussion for the coming months, where we all come together along with our faculty advisor Dr. Patrice Jackson-Ayotunde who guides us with our planning. Twice a month we have AAPS club lunches and dinner. To bring together all the members, we have held blowing nights, movie nights with snacks, and trips. Such activities help members to communicate better and build a stronger team. Another social activity where students are encouraged to participate is food can drive before the Christmas holidays.
2020-2021 was slow due to the pandemic and covid restrictions, but our members worked hard to bring new ideas each time and keep progressing. The year was full of fun activities done virtually or by following covid guidelines. We hope to grow by each consecutive year and help our students to grow professionally and personally. In the future, we plan to collaborate with various other regional AAPS student chapters.
